1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shock isolation system for an inertial sensor arrangement.
2. Description of Related Art
A system for isolation or damping of vibrations acting on an inertial sensor arrangement is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,569 (inventor—Goepfert).
Making available a shock isolation system for inertial sensor arrangements, especially those with optically operating gyroscope systems, or highly sensitive accelerometers, always poses an especially serious problem for the engineer. On the one hand, long enough spring paths must be prepared to reliably capture impacts or mechanical shock effects, on the other hand, the relative position of the inertial sensor arrangement to be protected or isolated in relation to the measurement surfaces or edges to be defined may not be significantly changed by the effect of temperature or its position changes within the framework of measurement accuracy. In this connection, it has been proposed that these devices be equipped with very compliant impact protection devices which are deactivated for a short time at the instant of measurements, and during the remaining time impart shock and impact protection (U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,373).